Subtarget.



No. 739,779: PATENTBD SEPT. 22, 1903.. H. H. CUMMINGS. SUBTARGET. APPLICATION FILED APR. 1a, 1903. no Mann. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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UNITED STATES- Patented September 22, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SUB- TARGET GUN COMPANY, OF SACO, MAINE, AND BOSTON, MASSACHU-f SETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

S UBTARG ET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,779, dated September 22, 1903. Application filed April 16, 1903- Serial No. 15521948. (No model.)

ters on the drawings representing like parts.

1o My invention relates to target-practice apparatus, being particularly concerned with devices for the practice of marksmanship employing an aiming device as a firearm capable of being aimed at a main target and provided with means for producing some record or indication of the aim thereof upon a sub or secondary target at the time of simulated firing, this being effected without the necessary issuance of any projectile from the firezo arm, but ei'fecting, nevertheless, an accurate record of the aimupon the subtarget, to Whichlatter device my invention is specifically related.

My present invention provides a subtarget device consisting of any suitable record-receiving member having displayed upon its.

face a target proportionately similar tothe main target toward which the firearm is die rected, whereby any impression or record made thereon may indicate to the marksman the proportional correctness or i-ncorrectness of his aim at the distant or main target. The marksman thus obtains an indication (herein in miniature) of his aim exactly as if such jectile from the firearm with the main target.

Furthermore, the target upon the subtarget device in order to indicate accurately the correctness or incorrectness of the aim must be definitely or predeterminately positioned upon said device relative to a positioning point or points thereon, so that the subtarget devices when positioned by these positioningpoints will invariably display the targets in uniform relationship to the practice apparatus,thereby insurin g corresponden ce between the subtarget and the main target.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 typifies a practice apparatus such as may be used in connection with a target or targets embodying my invention. Fig. 2 illustrates a subtarget aim were indicated by the'contact of a proembodying my invention; and Fig. 3 also a subtarget embodying my invention, but adapted for a different range.

The firearm typified at 5 may be mounted suitably, as upon a jointed frame comprising the members 19 b pivotally connected at b and slidably mounted upon a universallymo'vable rod 19 At its forward end this rod 5 is connected suitably with the gyratable recording device or pointer 0 adapted to be moved in front of and relatively to the subtarget t, which is shown as mounted in a spring-actuated holder d, controlled as to its movements by the trigger mechanism of the gun. As the gun in the hands of the marksman is gyrated or moved in the act of aiming at the main target Q,shown as a distant target of the character and position usually employed by practicing marksmen, the recording device or pointer 0 follows accurately the gyratory movements of the gun, and at the proper moment when the marksman pulls the trigger f the spring-actuated mechanism referred to moves the subtarget-holder d quickly toward the pointer c causing the latter to puncture or make an impression in or upon the subtarget 15 held thereby. I do not herein claim this mechanism and merely describe it generally as typical of a mechanism for the purpose of recordingthe aim of the gun upon the subtarget.

The main target Q, as appears upon the drawings, comprises a bulls-eye 1, with outer concentric rings 2 3, and the subtargettlikewise has a bulis-eye 10, with outerconcentric rings 11 12, and the proportions of the bullseye and its rings, both as to diameter and width, correspond exactly with those of the main target Q, so that the given proportion having been determined upon (this determination being governed by the particular range at which-the practice shall be carried on) any error in the aim of the firearm will be accurately indicated by the position of the pointer 0 relative to the subtarget, and upon pulling the gun-trigger will be permanently recorded upon or in the said subtarget device.

This subtarget may be of any suitable or desired material and the record may be made thereon in any suitable or desired manner. I prefer to use a thin paper target easily improperly supporting or displaying such distinctive form, coloring, or marking of the subtarget in the manner described.

The bulls-eye and its rings of the subtarget constitute the subtarget, which is proportionately similar to the corresponding parts of the main target Q, and obviously this subtarget must bear a predetermined position upon the subtarget slip or paper in order that it shall bear a proper recording position relative to the pointer 0 This may be conveniently accomplished by providing one or more registering-points for determining the position of the subtargetpaper. In the present instance the subtarget-holder d has three guiding or stop wallsviz. two side Walls and the bottom wallwithin which the subtarget t is placed. Any points selected in these several walls may be considered as the positioning-points. For the best results two points at least should be provided, one adapted to position the target in one direct-ion and the other in a direction at ninety degrees therefrom, although this is not absolutely essential, and if the sub-' target slips or papers be of uniform size exteriorly and the subtarget device be uniformly positioned thereon it follows that any number of subtargets may be inserted and withdrawn with absolute certainty of position in each instance of the subtarget delineated or displayed thereon, such adjustment of the apparatus as may be necessary in the first instance to bring the first subtarget into proper relation with the gun and its following parts sufficing for all the remainder of the series. Thus a marksman may practice for a considerable period of time without any expense as to ammunition or projectiles and Without the expense and effort of going to and from a fixed open range, and atthe end of the practice period may take away with him the subtarget devices employed and upon which will remain permanently recorded the record of accuracy of his several effortsat aiming the firearm. Several records may be made upon one and the same subtarget or a separate subtarget may be employed. for each effort; but in every instance the record upon the subtarget device bears to the subtarget precisely the same relation as to distance and direction from the center of the bulls-eye or with reference .to the bulls-eye as a whole and the rings and either of them that the aim of the firearm at the time of firing bore to the corresponding parts of the main target.

In order that the marksman may practice at varying ranges or distances from the main target I provide a series of these subtarget devices of uniform relation to the positioning point or points-as, for instance, of uniform exterior shape and size where employed as here shown and with the subtargets displayed thereon in different sizes, according to the different ranges for which they are employed. For example, in Fig. 2 ofihe drawings the subtarget is relatively small, because used for a three-hundred-yard range, wherein a relatively small deviation or gyration of the gunbarrel is required for a given displacement upon the distant maintarget. Consequently the subtarget is smaller in this instance, though upon the same-size sheet, than the subtarget of Fig. 3 upon the same-size sheet and intended for a shorter or two-hundredyard range. Thus, the longer the range the smaller the subtarget, if it be used with the same target-practice apparatus, although the positioning-points relative to the center of the bulls-eye or other given mean point of the target remains the samethat is, upon the specimens shown in the drawings the center of the bulls-eye 11 is located in the same position relative to the positioning side or sides of the slip t or any point or points therein as the center of the bulls-eye in Fig. 3 relative to the same side or sides, point or points. Furthermore, the diameters and areas of the bulls-eye and its rings, Fig. 2, are exactly proportional to those of Fig. 3, as well as to the distant or main target.

Any number of variable-range targets may be employed, and where the target is to serve as a permanent detached record of the aim itbecomes necessary to provide some key by which a proper valuation may be placed upon the aim thereupon recorded. It will be obvious that a subtarget of any given size will apparently record a more accurate aim at a short range than atalong one; also, if the movements of the gyratory follower be diminished relatively to the movements of the gun, and no proper estimate can therefore be placed upon the recorded aim unless the conditions under which the aim was recorded are known. The key herein consists in the statement of the range for which said target is employed conspicuously displayed upon its face, and in view of which the record upon the targets becomes at oncea definite expression of the valuation of that aim, though the target be detached from the apparatus employed in making the record. 1

Having described my invention and Without limiting myself in the matter of details, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A series of similar subtarget devices for use with a target-practice apparatus, having each displayed upon its face, and definitely positioned thereon relative toa positioning point or points thereof, a subtarget proportionately similar to the same main target whereby when the apparatus is adjusted for one of the series of said targets said adjustment suffices for the remainder of the series. 2. A series of dissimilar subtarget devices IIO for variable-range practice with a target-practice apparatus, the members of said series having displayed respectively upon faces thereof and definitely positioned thereon relative to positioning-points thereof, subtargets proportionately similar to a given main target and to each other, whereby when the apparatus is adj nsted for oneof the series of variable-range targets such adjustment suffices for all the targets of the series.

3. A series of snbtarget devices to receive the records of target-practice apparatus, hav ing each displayed upon its face and definitely positioned thereon relative to a positioning point or points thereof, a subtarget propor- HENRY H. CUMMINGS.

\Vitnesses:

EVERETT S. EMERY,

THOMAS E. BOOTH. 

